U.K. Sport Will Put The Pressure On Coaches And Administrators

Athletes have always had to perform or lose their public funding and now the same "no compromise approach" will be applied to their coaches and administrators, according to Ashling O'Connor of the LONDON TIMES. With U.K. Sport ready to announce Olympic medal targets for the Games, Chair Baroness Sue Campbell said that "some sports need to raise their game." Campbell: "Before, if the governance didn't mess up performance we didn't bother with it too much, but now we're putting a squeeze on it." She added: "We should be demanding the highest standards of governance because the athletes' hopes and dreams are locked into these decisions. They give up their lives to be the best. They deserve the best decisions and selection outcomes." The people running individual sports will "have to meet the same standards as the athletes whose careers are in their hands." National governing bodies will have to meet a series of targets in order to qualify for funding through the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. When medal targets for each sport are revealed on Wednesday, "accountability will be the buzzword." The record 550 athletes of Team GB will be expected to deliver "unprecedented public funding," which has soared since the 2004 Games in Athens (LONDON TIMES, 7/2).